General Information:
Release Year: August 2004
Retailer: Japanese exclusive
Price: $25 (Depending on Import Retailer)
Accessories: Rifles/Arm Lasers x 2, Missile Pods x 2

Images:

• In Package
• Card Art
• Vehicle Mode
• Vehicle Mode (Forward View)
• Vehicle Mode (Back View)
• Vehicle Mode (Rear View)
• Vehicle Mode (Side View)
• Vehicle Mode (With Convoy's missile launchers)
• Vehicle Mode (With Convoy's missile launchers, Forward View)
• Vehicle Mode (With Convoy's missile launchers, Side View)
• With G1 "Anime Color" Starscream (Vehicle Modes)
• Robot Mode
• Robot Mode (Upper Body)
• Robot Mode (Alternate Pose)
• Robot Mode (Aiming weapons)
• Robot Mode (Aiming weapons, arm weapons mounted differently)
• Robot Mode (One leg up)
• Robot Mode (With Convoy's missile launchers on arms)
• Robot Mode (With Convoy's missile launchers on arms, alternate configuration)
• Robot Mode (Holding Convoy's missile launcher)
• Robot Mode (Missile pods attached to chest)
• Robot Mode (Missile pods open)
• With G1 "Anime Color" Starscream (Robot Modes)

Like Optimus Prime or Megatron, Starscream is one of those names that even the most casual of Transformers fans will find familiar. Robotmasters seems to be using major characters for a lot of the new molds, and in this case, Starscream fits the bill. Not only is he a major character, but he is also one that has begged for a brand new sculpt/design for quite a while now. Robotmasters delivers this with its version of Starscream.

Tech Specs (Translated by Doug Dlin):
Name: STARSCREAM
Function: Air Commander

Profile: A genius of guile, capable of reaching speeds up to 950 mph in his normal jet mode. Fancies himself as handsome, and seeks to take control of the Destron forces. Being a former scientist, he is quite used to handling solitarium.

Weapon(s): Null Beam, Missile Pod

In this day and age, it seems no Transformers line is considered complete without a Starscream tossed into the mix somewhere. However, while many recent Starscreams have been homages or take-offs from the original G1 design, Robotmasters Starscream is the first toy in a while to represent a transformable version of the G1 character, based upon his G1 cartoon appearance.

Robot Mode:
Starscream's robot mode is sculpted with proportions that mirror his animated counterpart from G1. His wings are wide on the back, his legs start narrow and widen towards the feet while his arms are medium in size. While his overall design may seem rather simple, with little detail other than some etched shapes and lines on the main body, this is a true represenation of G1 Starscream's animated self, who
was never exacty choc full of detail to begin with.

The robot head is nice and streamlined, with the well known "vents" on either side of his face being slimmer than most Starscreams have had. His null ray cannons are nicely detailed however, and they follow the design pattern from the
animated series with a rectangular base telescoping into another leading to tubes.

Starscream's color scheme is simple, yet effective. He is mostly silver, with light blue parts on parts such as the lower arms and feet. His cockpit is orange (as it was in the animated series). The wings have red and white stripes on them. His head is black with a silver face and red eyes. None of these colors (aside from the black of course) are very strong, rather they are rather light shades, reflecting the bright, animated pallette of the G1 show.

The null ray cannons can be detached from the sides of Starscream's arms and then attached to the holes on his lower arms. Starscream includes two accessories not found in previous version: missile pods. These attach to the holes on his chest. They are nicely designed and done in vacuum metallized silver. Flip them open and inside you'll find six missile tubes. This was inspired by a sequence in a G1 episode where Starscream does actually fire a missile from
his chest.

Starscream has eleven points of articulation. While this is rather impressive for a toy based on the G1 design, I think the designers could have worked two more in on the legs. While his legs can kick forward, the knees do not bend. A hinge joint could have easily been added at the knees to allow movement back and forth.

Transformation to Vehicle Mode:

1. Detach the null rays from the arms.
2. Flip the robot feet up.
3. Push the two lower legs together.
4. Swing the wings down.
5. Swing the robot arms back.
6. Flip the fists up
7. Align the upper and lower sections of the arm so the oval shaped pieces line up.
8. Swing the chest piece out and move the nosecone so it comes out in front.
9. Push the robot legs up.
10. Push the wings into place.
11. Rotate the horizontal rear fins.
12. Attach the null ray cannons to the undersides of the wings.

Vehicle Mode:
Starscream's vehicle mode looks both sleek and detailed at the same time. All along the top of the vehicle you'll find line detail indicating where panels begin and end on the Decepticon. The nosecone even points down ever so slightly, emulating a stylized look at the jet mode that was seen on occasion in the animated series.

For those curious, you can take the special Robotmasters missile launchers such as the one included with Megatron and attach it to the undersides of Starscream's wings as "super" weapons.
The cockpit can open, but there's nothing really to see inside.

Color-wise, there are no surprises here. Starscream's silver/red/light blue/orange color scheme continues. On each wing there is a tampographed Decepticon symbol, and another is found on his nosecone.

Final Thoughts:
Though not perfect, Robotmasters Starscream is very close to the G1 Starscream toy fans have wanted for years. Kudos to the designers for making all his parts fit somewhere in both modes. One of the biggest problems fans have had with G1 Starscream is
that his fists, missiles and launchers are easily lost. Here, everything is in one package in either mode. Highly recommended.